Sunday September 2 2007 - Sai Kung West Hike

On Thursday I went on another hike. This was another Michael Hansen hike. It was labeled “Sai Kung West” and went to an area that I had never been in before. We traveled by MTR and mini-bus to get to Sai Kung, the town that is the jumping off place for many hikes and our sampan beach jaunt. From there we grabbed another bus and headed northwest, to the end of the line.

We had beautiful weather for this hike. Although thunder rumbled in the distance off and on all day we didn’t get rained on, so I was able to take more pictures.

The first part of the hike wandered through the forest, up and down on dirt trails, and finally up one good-sized hill. We came to several occupied villages, with people tending their gardens and one little old lady that told Michael in Cantonese that she would be happy to sell us some dragon fruit! Dragon fruit is pretty (pink and green skin, white fruit with little black dots) but its mainly tasteless and sweet, so we passed.

The hill wasn’t that bad, but a young man from California that joined us was totally unprepared for the heat, humidity, and hills of Hong Kong. He only carried two bottles of green tea, no water. His shoes were literally falling apart. And he was NOT in shape. I just don’t understand it, because this happens a lot, to Michael and to Judi, and even on the AWA Easyhikes. People just don’t seem to understand that a hike is not a walk or a stroll. That if you haven’t done anything except drive your car and walk from the parking lot into your office for ten years you are NOT going to be able to climb the hills in Hong Kong and walk for 14K! And in Hong Kong in the summer, it’s flat out dangerous. We get absolutely soaking wet without a drop of rain. We lose pounds just walking, because our bodies are trying so hard to cool us off and they’re struggling because of the humidity. And there’s not always a way to shorten a hike so someone can quit early. Fortunately for this man, once we got over the first hill, we walked for another hour on relatively flat ground and he was able to wait for a ferry at that point. Michael insisted that he not attempt the hill on the last portion of the hike.

When we got to the top of the first hill an AMAZING view spread out before us. We could see Three Fathoms Cove, an inlet in the Tolo Harbor. And off in the distance we could see Pat Sing Leng, the mountain of Eight Fairies fame that I climbed last year. It looked so beautiful off in the distance. I’d never seen the entire mountain so clearly before. It looked very impressive from that angle.

As we descended that first mountain I went on ahead a bit, since Michael was moving pretty slowly to accommodate the California kid. The path wound through forest and stream, passing ferns and waterfalls. I rounded one corner and BOOM, I ran into a little herd of wild pigs! I was so astonished, I yelled “Holy Moly!” and the pigs made panicked pig noises and rushed away in all directions. They were little, around 2 feet long, and black. There were maybe 8 to 10 pigs all total. I hiked back to where Michael and California were, and told them to shush, so that maybe they’d be able to see the pigs. We tiptoed back to where I had seen them. We could hear them grunting a little, but we couldn’t see a thing. I wish I hadn’t yelled, but they really surprised me! Seeing wild pigs is uncommon. If it ever happens again maybe I’ll remember to keep quiet and I’ll get a picture!

When we got to Three Fathoms Cove the path continued along the water’s edge. We could also see Mah On Shan, the tallest mountain in Hong Kong, from this point. The mountain looks just like a horse’s saddle and that’s what Mah On Shan means: Horse Saddle. Michael said it’s not really that hard to climb and that he does it occasionally. I’m going to watch for him to schedule it and try to do it sometime.

We finally got to a village, Sam Chung, where the ferry stops. This little village had a golf course, which just seemed so funny to me. It was a nine-hole, three-par course, in what looked like good shape. Nobody was playing on the course. Michael said it was the cheapest course in Hong Kong, and I can imagine that’s true, since the only way to get there is by hiking or ferry, and the ferry only runs twice a day (well three times on weekends). There were quite a few people on the ferry pier, all fishing. Apparently that’s a very popular outing in this area.

We sat at the little store overlooking the golf course and had some drinks and rested for a bit. Eventually Michael and I bade goodbye to California and headed up the last mountain path to Lai Chi Chong, where we picked up the 6 PM ferry to head across Three Fathoms Cove and back to the city. This was one of the little dinky ferries…our fellow travelers were the people returning from their day of fishing, and a group of young boys hanging out at a table playing a card game and laughing hilariously. I think one of them was related to the ferry captain, because he kept going into the pilot house and talking to him in a very father-to-son sort of way.

The ferry ride was really nice. It was sunset and a gentle breeze was blowing. We could watch the sun setting over Pat Sing Leng, and see the area around the University KCR station approaching in the distance. The station is called University because this is where the Chinese University of Hong Kong is located. It’s a beautiful little campus on a hill and it was a great way to end the day.